Out of 400 cities with populations of at least 75,000, Lawrence ranked as the 156th safest in this year’s rankings, which are calculated by population using six crime categories from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports: motor vehicle theft, murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery and burglary.

Lawrence ranked 159th last year, 114th in 2008, and 166th in 2007.

St. Louis received this year’s notorious ranking for the least-safest city, while Colonie, N.Y., ranked as the safest.

CQ Press has published such rankings for 17 years, but the figures have come under fire from various organizations. For example, the United States Conference of Mayors recently issued a news release calling this year’s numbers “bogus,” citing flawed methodology that ignores other risk factors of crime victimization.

Here’s how other Kansas cities in this year’s rankings fared, from lowest (safest) ranking, to highest (less safe):

Probably because less than 75% of the cities included in the Metro Area reported. That's what I'm getting from the missing metro areas explaination, anyway.

And the whole vicinity is not a piece of crap at all, it's actually pretty similar to Kansas City. There are the really bad urban areas, but there are the super-nice suburban areas too. And everything in between. Assuming that the whole St. Louis metro area is dangerous based on this study would be like assuming that Leawood is dangerous based on crime stats from KCK.

This is a misleading article. it suggests that Lawrence is the 156th safest city in the country, but when you read the article it is only out of 400 cities. Which 400 cities? These number can easily be manipulated to read whatever the "CQ Press" wants them too say. I'm calling Shananigans.

Lawrence hasn't had a murder in a couple of years, has it? Topeka averages one a month.
(The hot-shot, publicity-seeking new Shawnee County DA hasn't put a dent in the murder rate, despite his much-advertised "close relationship" with the police dept ..whereas I never see the Douglas County DA trying to get his face before the cameras or in the newspaper)

I think of theme song to HBO's "Weeds" when I think of Johnson County. The houses are various shades but all look the same, the people go to university and emerge all thinking the same.

But kudos to their reported low crime rate. The jackboot method must work.

I have never felt less safe anywhere. It's pretty bad when you cannot enjoy a healthy walk without being terrorized by officious, ignorant strangers and their bigoted, molesting, self-serving takes on being a "good Samaritan."

The "flawed methodology" argument is a fair argument. In many cities, those involved in the drug trade are much more likely to be "victims" of crime, especially for the criteria they examined. If you're not involved in the drug trade, your chances of becoming a victim of any of those 5 crimes are extremely low. In Lawrence, for example, if you stay away from places with a heavy concentration of bars between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am, your chances of becoming a victim of the crimes they examined are very low. But reading the article, one is led to believe that Overland Park is a much safer city at any given time than Lawrence, which is not statistically true.

When I lived in Lawrence I rarely locked my doors and I got by fine. Somebody mentioned above that St. Louis is the most dangerous city in the U.S., which is true, but it really just has to do with East St. Louis, which is very rough and nobody really has any business wandering around E. STL. I live in Detroit now, which too is dangerous, but like DGL said above if your not involved in criminal activity or gangs you should be fine. A lot of violence in cities is due to people associating with the "wrong" crowd and getting involved in criminal activity themselves.

because taxi drivers can park on the street and keep it in drive to avoid armed robberies.but downtown lawrence you have to park in a parking space. fire code,this door must remain unlocked during business hours. lawrence police please let us small business owners protect our assets.there is a reason why we do what we do not for pleasure.